The Cardiac Network has supported the development of a simple consumer heart failure resource called Your Quick Guide to Heart Failure Wellbeing. It has been developed for people living with chronic heart failure and is provided in the format of an A5 fridge magnet so that the information is easy to access in the everyday home environment. The magnet supports patient self-management in the community and details how to stay well, how to recognise worsening of symptoms early and when to seek help from a health professional.
Feedback was provided by the special interest group at the Consumer Health Forum of Australia, Vision Australia, the Aboriginal Healthy Hearts team at Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD and 40 consumers who participated in focus groups at Ryde, Dubbo, Tweed and Lismore.
The magnet has been distributed to local health districts in NSW; has been translated into a range of community languages; and will be available to download from the ACI website. An Aboriginal artist has been engaged to provide a culturally-appropriate version of the magnet to support Aboriginal people with heart failure.
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